AN
ACT TO PROHIBIT AND PENALIZE WIRE TAPPING AND OTHER RELATED VIOLATIONS
OF THE PRIVACY OF COMMUNICATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Section
1. It shall be unlawful for any person, not being authorized by all the
parties to any private communication or spoken word, to tap any wire or
cable, or by using any other device or arrangement, to secretly
overhear,
intercept, or record such communication or spoken word by using a
device
commonly known as a dictaphone or dictagraph or detectaphone or
walkie-talkie
or tape recorder, or however otherwise described:

It
shall also be unlawful for any person, be he a participant or not in
the
act or acts penalized in the next preceding sentence, to knowingly
possess
any tape record, wire record, disc record, or any other such record, or
copies thereof, of any communication or spoken word secured either
before
or after the effective date of this Act in the manner prohibited by
this
law; or to replay the same for any other person or persons; or to
communicate
the contents thereof, either verbally or in writing, or to furnish
transcriptions
thereof, whether complete or partial, to any other person: Provided,
That the use of such record or any copies thereof as evidence in any
civil,
criminal investigation or trial of offenses mentioned in Sec. 3
hereof,
shall not be covered by this prohibition.

Sec. 2. Any person who wilfully
or knowingly does or who shall aid, permit,
or cause to be done any of the acts declared to be unlawful in the
preceding Sec. or who violates the provisions of the following Sec. or
of
any
order issued thereunder, or aids, permits, or causes such violation
shall,
upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not less than
six months or more than six years and with the accessory penalty of
perpetual
absolute disqualification from public office if the offender be a
public
official at the time of the commission of the offense, and, if the
offender
is an alien he shall be subject to deportation proceedings. chan
robles virtual law library

Sec. 3. Nothing contained in this
Act, however, shall render it unlawful or
punishable for any peace officer, who is authorized by a written order
of the Court, to execute any of the acts declared to be unlawful in the
two preceding Sec.s in cases involving the crimes of treason,
espionage,
provoking war and disloyalty in case of war, piracy, mutiny in the high
seas, rebellion, conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion, inciting
to rebellion, sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition, inciting to
sedition,
kidnapping as defined by the Revised
Penal Code, and violations of Commonwealth Act No. 616, punishing
espionage
and other offenses against national security: Provided, That
such
written order shall only be issued or granted upon written application
and the examination under oath or affirmation of the applicant and the
witnesses he may produce and a showing: (1) that there are reasonable
grounds
to believe that any of the crimes enumerated hereinabove has been
committed
or is being committed or is about to be committed: Provided,
however,
That in cases involving the offenses of rebellion, conspiracy and
proposal
to commit rebellion, inciting to rebellion, sedition, conspiracy to
commit
sedition, and inciting to sedition, such authority shall be granted
only
upon prior proof that a rebellion or acts of sedition, as the case may
be, have actually been or are being committed; (2) that there are
reasonable
grounds to believe that evidence will be obtained essential to the
conviction
of any person for, or to the solution of, or to the prevention of, any
such crimes; and (3) that there are no other means readily available
for
obtaining such evidence. chan
robles virtual law library

The
order granted or issued shall specify: (1) the identity of the person
or
persons whose communications, conversations, discussions, or spoken
words
are to be overheard, intercepted, or recorded and, in the case of
telegraphic
or telephonic communications, the telegraph line or the telephone
number
involved and its location; (2) the identity of the peace officer
authorized
to overhear, intercept, or record the communications, conversations,
discussions,
or spoken words; (3) the offense or offenses committed or sought to be
prevented; and (4) the period of the authorization. The authorization
shall
be effective for the period specified in the order which shall not
exceed
sixty (60) days from the date of issuance of the order, unless extended
or renewed by the court upon being satisfied that such extension or
renewal
is in the public interest.

All
recordings made under court authorization shall, within forty-eight
hours
after the expiration of the period fixed in the order, be deposited
with
the court in a sealed envelope or sealed package, and shall be
accompanied
by an affidavit of the peace officer granted such authority stating the
number of recordings made, the dates and times covered by each
recording,
the number of tapes, discs, or records included in the deposit, and
certifying
that no duplicates or copies of the whole or any part thereof have been
made, or if made, that all such duplicates or copies are included in
the
envelope or package deposited with the court. The envelope or package
so
deposited shall not be opened, or the recordings replayed, or used in
evidence,
or their contents revealed, except upon order of the court, which shall
not be granted except upon motion, with due notice and opportunity to
be
heard to the person or persons whose conversation or communications
have
been recorded. chan
robles virtual law library

The
court referred to in this Sec. shall be understood to mean the Court
of First Instance within whose territorial jurisdiction the acts for
which
authority is applied for are to be executed.

Sec. 4. Any communication or
spoken word, or the existence, contents,
substance,
purport, effect, or meaning of the same or any part thereof, or any
information
therein contained obtained or secured by any person in violation of the
preceding Sec.s of this Act shall not be admissible in evidence in
any
judicial, quasi-judicial, legislative or administrative hearing or
investigation.

Sec. 5. All laws inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed
or accordingly amended. chan
robles virtual law library